{"id":1059,"date":"2014-03-01T23:07:25","date_gmt":"2014-03-01T23:07:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/?p=1059"},"modified":"2014-03-01T23:10:05","modified_gmt":"2014-03-01T23:10:05","slug":"be-gentle-to-yourself","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2014\/03\/be-gentle-to-yourself.html","title":{"rendered":"Be gentle – to yourself"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Maureen<\/a>A friend and I were going to get together, but she ended up in bed with the flu. \u00a0She was “really, really sorry” that our plans couldn’t work out. But, “Be gentle to yourself,” I told her. All else can wait until you’re feeling much, much better.<\/p>\n

When we have plans and they’re derailed by illness – our illness, our first inclination might be to feel guilty. Remorseful. Embarrassed that we are, once again, victim of our frail bodies. But when we’re especially hurting is actually the best time to exercise another kind of care, another approach to our condition.<\/p>\n

Gentleness is powerful. It soothes, calms, and helps stress melt away. Gentleness is a way to respect the recuperation we need and, before we’re feeling better, it’s a great way to<\/p>\n

How do we show gentleness? First, by not being embarrassed or guilty about the fact that we’re ill. Illness “just is.”<\/p>\n

Second, we speak gently, move about gently, and arrange our day so that we lessen any significant burden of activity (work, social responsibilities, etc.). It’s all right. There will be a day very soon when we’re feeling better and stronger and up to tackling what we temporarily set aside.<\/p>\n

Gentleness is a virtue also expressed in prayer. Instead of forceful supplication, sit back, focus on one element of your relationship with God, and let thoughts flow from the Spirit to your soul.<\/p>\n

A fiery, spice meal when you’re ill probably doesn’t do as much good as the proverbial chicken soup. So, too, does gentleness belong at the times when we’re ailing. \u00a0Yes, life will “spice up” soon enough!<\/p>\n

Blessings for the day,<\/p>\n

Maureen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A friend and I were going to get together, but she ended up in bed with the flu. \u00a0She was “really, really sorry” that our plans couldn’t work out. But, “Be gentle to yourself,” I told her. All else can wait until you’re feeling much, much better. When we have plans and they’re derailed by…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":548,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,43,4,383,379],"tags":[940,938,939,96,941,942],"class_list":["post-1059","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chronic-pain-and-illness","category-encouragement-in-life","category-words-of-encouragemnent-and-info-for-all","category-heart-health","category-lupus-2","tag-being-gentle","tag-feeling-ill","tag-getting-sick","tag-prayer","tag-softness","tag-spiritual-balm"],"yoast_head":"\nBe gentle - to yourself - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2014\/03\/be-gentle-to-yourself.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Be gentle - to yourself - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A friend and I were going to get together, but she ended up in bed with the flu. \u00a0She was “really, really sorry” that our plans couldn’t work out. 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She expected to be writing scripts. God had other plans. A few years after her graduation, Maureen was diagnosed with a life-threatening case of organ-involved lupus. Her life turned upside down as she grappled with the effects of the illness and other health conditions that ensued. She was no stranger to serious health challenges; even as a child, Maureen had survived numerous bouts of pneumonia, flu, and other infections. But lupus made her take a fresh look at her life goals - and took herlifelong, strong Catholic Christian faith and writing in a direction she'd never imagined. Today, Maureen writes and speaks about walking with the Lord while living with chronic pain and illness. Her most recent book is \"Don't Panic!: How to Keep Going When the Going Gets Tough (Franciscan Media). She is also the author of, \"Peace in the Storm: Meditations on Chronic Pain & Illness\" (Image Books\/Randomhouse), \"Beyond Pain: Job, Jesus, and Joy\" (Twenty-Third Publications), \"The First Year: Hypothyroidism, Second Edition\" (Perseus) and \"Taking Charge of Lupus: How to Manage the Disease and Make the Most of Your LIfe.\" She writes the syndicated column, \"Living Well,\" for Catholic News Service, and has also written for Saint Anthony Messenger Magazine, Journey for Women Magazine, The Upper Room Magazine, LupusNow, and Arthritis Today. Maureen's health continues to be a challenge, however she feels honored to be able to bring her perspective, from experience and knowledge, to others. \"Good Days...Bad Days with Maureen Pratt\" is a new way for Maureen to reach people who carry the burden of illness and pain in their lives, or who care for someone who does. Through the blog, she hopes to bring issues of health, wellness, and spirit into focus and, especially, inspire others that, no matter what health challenges, illness, or hardships they endure, each person can find a good way to realize the wonderful potential God has placed within each heart and soul.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.maureenpratt.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/author\/mpratt"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1059","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/548"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1059"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1059\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1061,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1059\/revisions\/1061"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1059"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1059"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1059"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}